Revelation 15:1; The Revelation Story (2)
Revelation 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
In chapter 12, we saw perennial conflict between Satan and the nation of Israel from which will come the Messiah, the Saviour of all mankind. And in chapter 13, we saw the rise of the Antichrist in verses 1-10 and from verses 11-18, the rise of the False Prophet. It seemed the situation is hopeless, evil has invaded and overtaken the earth. But in chapter 14, we see the Lord’s hand overturning and thwarting evil and establishing righteousness. You will notice there are those who are the true worshippers of God whom God will take care even amidst great spiritual conflict, He uses his true servants to do His will. We were brought to a scene on earth in Mount Zion in Jerusalem. We see a Lamb that stood on earth with him 144,000 Jews that we saw in Revelation 7 who were tasked to preached the gospel during the Tribulation period. Then we heard the words of the voice from heaven where we can see a scene of praise from the command centre of the entire universe posturing and giving the picture of victory and triumph in praise and song. The angel was sent to preach the gospel.
Revelation 14:6-7 (KJV) 6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: andworship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
We observe a two-prong approach that was taken. The call to battle for God’s people to advance the gospel throughout the world and the warning given to unbelievers of coming judgment, when God’s wrath will be unleashed upon the wickedness of the earth.[1]
The interlude that we observe in chapter 14 is a precursor to the unleashing of the final judgment of God. It is certainly more devastating than the atomic bombs that dropped in the two Japanese cites of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when Jesus returns!
At the order of President Harry S. Truman during the final stage of World War II, the United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.
The United States had dropped the bombs with the consent of the United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.
In the final year of the war, the Allies prepared for what was anticipated to be a very costly invasion of the Japanese mainland. This was preceded by a U.S. conventional and firebombing campaign that destroyed 67 Japanese cities. The war in Europe had concluded when Nazi Germany signed its instrument of surrender on May 8, 1945. The Japanese, facing the same fate, refused to accept the Allies’ demands for unconditional surrender and the Pacific War continued. The Allies called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945—the alternative being “prompt and utter destruction”. The Japanese response to this ultimatum was to ignore it.
By August 1945, the Allies’ Manhattan Project had produced two types of atomic bombs, and the 509th Composite Group of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was equipped with the specialized Silverplate version of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that could deliver them from Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Orders for atomic bombs to be used on four Japanese cities were issued on July 25. On August 6, the U.S. dropped a uranium gun-type (Little Boy) bomb on Hiroshima, and American President Harry S. Truman called for Japan’s surrender, warning it to “expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.”
Three days later, on August 9, a plutonium implosion-type (Fat Man) bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Within the first two to four months following the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings had killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians, although Hiroshima had a sizable military garrison.
Japan announced its surrender to the Allies on August 15, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki and the Soviet Union‘s declaration of war. On September 2, the Japanese government signed the instrument of surrender, effectively ending World War II. The justification for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still debated to this day.[2]
Straight Flush was the name of a B-29 Superfortress (B-29-36-MO 44-27301, Victor number 85) participating in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
[1] Charles R. Swindoll, Revelation, Tyndale House Publishers, Illinois, 2014, 212.
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki